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George Takei
George Hosato Takei is an American actor, director, author, and activist. Takei is best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek series. He also portrayed the character i six Star Trek feature films and in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Takei's involvement in social media has brought him new fame. His Facebook page currently has over 9.8 million likes since he joined in 2011, and he frequently shares photos with original humorous commentary. He is proponent of LGBT rights and active in state and local politics in addition to his continued acting career. He has won several awards and accolades in his work on human rights and Japanese-American relations, including his work with the Japanese American National Museum. Biography Early life Takei was born Hosato Takei on April 20, 1937, in Los Angeles, California, to Japanese-American parents, Fumiko Emily (nee Nakamura; born in Sacramento) and Takekuma Norman Takei, born in Yamanashi Perfecture, Japan, who worked in real estate. His father was an Anglophile, and named him George after King George VI of the United Kingdom, whose coronation took place in 1937, shortly after Takei's birth. In 1942, the Takei family was forced to live in the converted horse stables of Santa Anita Park before being sent to the Rohwer War Relocation Center for internment in Rohwer, Arkansas. The family was later transformed to the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in California. At the end of World War II, Takei and his family returned to Los Angeles. He attended Mount Vernon Junior High School, where he served as student body president, and Los Angeles High School. He was a member of Boy Scout Troop 379 of the Koyasan Buddhist Temple. Upon graduation from high school, Takei enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley where he studied architecture. Later he attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in theater in 1960 and a Master of Arts in theater in 1964. He attended the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. In Hollywood, he studied acting at the Desilu Workshop. Early career Takei began his career in Hollywood in the late 1950's, providing voiceover for characters in the English dub of the Japanese monster films Godzilla Raids Again a.k.a. Gigantis the Fire Monster, for the latter of which he recalled, "There was one word that we had tremendous difficult getting the meaning of and finding an English word that fit the lip movement. The Japanese word was 'bakayaro', which means 'stupid fool'." The director, Takei said, had him use the phrase "banana oil." He went on to appear in the anthology television series Playhouse 90 and the Perry Mason episode The Case of the Blushing Pearls. He originated the role of George in the musical Fly Blackbird!, but when the show travel from Los Angeles to Broadway the west coast actors were forced to audition and the role went to William Sugihara instead. Eventually Sugihara had to give up the role and Takei closed out the show's final months. Takei subsequently appeared alongside such actors as Frank Sinatra in Never So Few (uncredited), Richard Burton in Ice Palace, Jeffery Hunter in Hell to Eternity, Alec Guinness in A Majority of One, James Caan in Red Line 7000 and Cary Grant in Walk, Don't Run. He featured in a lead role in "The Encounter" (1964), an episode of The Twilight Zone in which he played the guilt-ridden son of a traitor who signaled Japanese pilots during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He had an uncredited role in the film PT-109 (1963) as the helmsman who steers the Japanese destroyer over John F. Kennedy's Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109. He guest-starred in an episode of Mission: Impossible (1966) during the show's first season and co-starred with Martin Landau. He also appeared in two Jerry Lewis comedies, The Big Mouth and Which Way to the Front? In 1969 Takei narrated the award winning documentary The Japanese Sword as the Soul of the Samurai. Star Trek In 1965, producer Gene Roddenberry cast him as Lt. Sulu in the second Star Trek pilot and eventually the Star Trek television series. It was intended that Sulu's role be expanded in the second season, but Takei's role as Captain Nim, a South Vietnamese Army officer, alongside John Wayne's character in The Green Berets, meant that he only appeared in half the season. Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov substituted for him in the other episodes. When Takei returned, the two men had to share a dressing room and a single episode script. Takei admitted in an interview that he initially felt threatened by Koenig's presence, but later grew to be friends with him as the image of the officers sharing the ship's helm panel side-by-side became iconic. After Star Trek 1970's 1980's 1990's 2000's 2010's The Howard Stern Show Personal life and activism Awards and recognition Roles 7807908975867865.PNG| Wong Episodes stared in *Doctor Strange Trivia *George Takei later voiced an Elder Monk on Ultimate Spider-Man. Category:Cast Category:A-Z Category:Star Trek (original series) actors in Spider-Man: TAS